


We All Fall Down

by JacksonTheBoi



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, M/M, PTSD, Violence, mentions of sex and sexual acts, slight gore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-03 13:50:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10968537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JacksonTheBoi/pseuds/JacksonTheBoi
Summary: “Why should I trust you?” He was still resisting, the muscles in his chest straining to keep up upright and unwilling to yield.“You don’t have a choice.”





	1. Blurry

“Who are you?”

The question left Jack breathless; frozen. Who was he? How was he supposed to answer that question? He was Jack Morrison from Indiana. He was Jack Morrison: Strike-Commander of Overwatch. He was Jack Morrison: husband of Gabriel Reyes. The question was snarled, it was confused and scared, and Jack had no idea what to say.

“Who the hell are you?” Gabriel narrowed his eyes, grunting in pain as he sat up. “Answer me!” 

Jack moved quickly, using his hands to push Gabriel back down onto the concrete as he shook his head. “You’re hurt, stay down.” He ordered. His eyebrows furrowed as he scanned over the man; he didn’t look good. There was a large gash spread over Gabriel’s chest, and his arm was bent back in a compromising position. “Gabriel, I know you’re confused, but you need to stay still.” Jack’s eyes flickered up to meet those of his husband’s, the dark brown in the other’s eyes flexing with anger.

“Why should I trust you?” He was still resisting, the muscles in his chest straining to keep up upright and unwilling to yield.

“You don’t have a choice.”

Gabriel looked like he was weighing his options, grimacing in pain as his eyes scanned over Jack critically, and Jack was at a loss because Gabriel really didn’t know him. His husband had forgotten him completely, and now he was just a stranger. But he nodded after a moment and laid back down, and Jack had no doubt that it was solely because of the pain. 

Jack took a breath, looking around the cramped space and trying to focus on what he needed to do. What did he need to do? God, it was so hot; he was sweating, his body aching with every sluggish movement, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

 

_ “Stop overthinking it. Pay attention to what you have in front of you, not what you might have in the future.” Gabriel crossed his arms, sneering at Jack as leaned back casually against the training room wall.  _

_ What did that even mean? Jack shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck with a long sigh. He had no idea what he was doing, and Gabriel wasn’t helping by speaking cryptically about what he was supposed to do to get through these simulations. “What? But what if I-”  _

_ “Morrison. Show me what you have and use it. Do you want to pass the test or not?” Gabriel pushed off the wall, moving forward to stand in front of a nervous looking Jack Morrison. “You’ve got a long way to go rookie.” _

 

Right. What did he have? 

The area was no larger than a handicap bathroom stall at the base, and going up the concrete was slanted in a way that made Jack worry that it might fall and they might be crushed. He didn’t have enough room to stand, and if he was going to move anywhere he would need to crawl over Gabriel, who was looking less than stable. That’s right. Gabriel needed help- he was hurt. 

“Okay.” He let out a shaky breath. “Okay. Gabriel, I need to deal with this wound.” He reached over to pull up Gabriel’s blood-soaked Blackwatch shirt.

“Don’t touch me! Who the fuck are you?” He snarled, reaching out with his arm only to let out a sharp cry of pain. “ _ Fuck!” _

“Gabriel!” Jack yelled back, his voice just as loud. “Stop struggling! I promise I’ll explain everything when I finish with your injuries.”

He didn’t say anything else, and neither did Gabriel, which Jack took as a go ahead and pulled off his jacket, his blue, official Strike-Commander jacket that he had despised since receiving and then he ripped the damn thing almost in two. “I’m going to pull your shirt up now.” He set the jacket on the ground, gently peeling up Gabriel’s shirt and wincing; god, that was not a pretty sight. Jack was shaking as he picked the jacket back up, hovering over Gabriel’s body. He knew so little about medicine, he had only done the mandatory training for field medicine, and that had been years ago. He had nothing to help him now, and for all he knew he could do something wrong and Gabriel would die.

_ Show me what you have and use it. _

Jack steeled himself, lips pulling into a thin line as he took the fabric remains of his coat and wrapped it tightly around Gabriel’s abdomen, tying a tight knot on the side of his body before pulling back. “Pressure is good.” He muttered to himself. Gabriel didn’t look like he was bleeding out, at least not yet. 

Jack turned his attention to Gabriel when the man let out a hiss of pain. “My arm.” He grunted, gesturing to the obviously dislocated joint. “Pop it back.”

“I don’t know how.”  Jack furrowed his eyebrows as he scooted up to touch Gabriel’s shoulder gently.

“Fuck! Pop it or don’t poke at it you ass!” He griped, jerking away and letting out another hiss of pain in reaction.

“Okay, Okay.” Jack shook his head, putting a hand on top and underneath the shoulder. He met Gabriel’s eyes and nodded, before snapping forward.

Gabriel let out a cry so loud that it made Jack flinch, and if anyone was near them they would have heard it. “God  _ dammit. _ ” He groaned, flexing his hand and panting heavily. “Are we done?” He hissed, and Jack furrowed his eyebrows.

“Done isn’t the word I would use.” He said slowly, panting heavily as he leaned back against the concrete that trapped them. “Let me know if that wound gets any worse.” 

“Whatever. You owe me some answers.”

“Before I tell you who I am I need to know what you know- what you remember.” Jack watched him carefully, watched his eyebrows furrow in concentration, and watched him look back at Jack with eyes that anyone who didn’t know him would take as anger, but Jack knew exactly what it was; it was fear.

“Who the hell am I?”


	2. Okay

_ “Why don’t you fight back?”  _

_ Jack looked away, hands folding over each other as he leaned back against the training room wall. “What’s the point?” His eyes found the floor easily, tracing all of the scuff marks that had been made over years of sparring and boots. _

_ “The point is that everyone here is going to think you’re weak.” _

_ “I’m not.” _

_ “You’re not getting it.” Gabriel crouched down in front of Jack, an eyebrow raised and his lips pulled down into a frown. “If they think you’re weak, they’re going to think you’re not dependable, and then you’re going to get into the field with them and get yourself killed.” He flicked at Jack’s temple lightly, tutting when Jack finally turned to look at him. _

_ “I have you.” _

_ “Maybe.” Gabriel paused, taking Jack’s thumb between his thumb and pointer finger and smiling in amusement. “But you won’t always have me, and they need to be able to depend on you, even if they hate you, so suck it up and fight back.” _

_ “It’s their choice to fuck up this team because of a dumb sparring contest.” _

_ “Maybe,” Gabriel said again, “but you’re a part of this dumb ass team, which means you need to fix their mistakes. Got it, Sol?” _

_ “Thanks.” The blonde shifted, eyeing Gabriel cautiously before nodding.  _

_ “No problem.” _

 

Gabriel asked a lot of questions. Well, Jack thought, it was only natural he would ask so many questions, especially when he was stuck in a small space with a relative stranger, as well he was a stranger to himself.

“How did we get here?” Was his first question. To which Jack replied:

“There was an explosion; we were arguing in the hallway and a bomb went off.” He was leaning against the concrete near Gabriel’s head, eyes closed as he tried to pretend it wasn’t getting hotter the longer they stayed there. 

“Who am I?” Was the next question, and Jack wasn’t sure how to answer that. He knew a lot about Gabriel, and he knew a lot about who Gabriel was as a human being, but at the same time, he had no idea who Gabriel was, and what went through the man’s head. He was stubborn, and rash, and incredibly brave and talented, and Jack found himself at a loss for words.

“You’re Gabriel Reyes.” He said eventually, “You’re the commander of Blackwatch, which is a division of Overwatch, which is a peacekeeping organization.” It felt weird saying that now because what had happened was anything but peaceful, and what they had done to themselves and the world, was not peaceful. None of this was peaceful.

“And who are you?” That was the third question; Jack could answer this one. At least, he thought he could answer this one. But what did he say? He was Gabriel’s husband, but you can’t exactly tell that to someone who doesn’t remember you. He might freak out, or try to move, or call Jack a liar.

“I’m Jack Morrison. I’m the commander of Overwatch, and I-” he paused, hesitating. “I’m a friend of yours.” A friend. It almost hurt to choke that word out; they hadn’t been friends in a very long time, after all.

 

_ “You’re blind, Jackie.” Gabriel sighed, sitting down on the edge of his bed as he stared thoughtfully at the blonde farm boy looking at his feet.  _

_ “Blind?” He didn’t look up, eyes trained on the ground, because he had an idea of what Gabriel was getting at, but he didn’t want to think about the possibility, not in the middle of a war, a war that could kill them both, or even worse: it could kill only one of them and leave the other broken and half of a person. No. Jack couldn’t let that happen. “I’m not blind, I’m smart.” _

_ “Then stop it.” Gabriel frowned, leaning forward and running a hand over his beard. “I’m done with all of this half-assed flirting.”  _

_ “I can’t, Gabriel.” Blue eyes flitted up to look at the Latino across the room. “I can’t. If we do this, my fondness will turn into love, and you’ll die and then where will I be? I can’t do it.” He wasn’t strong enough. Maybe they were super soldiers, and maybe they would all get out of this alive, but as it stood, soldiers were still dropping out of the program with every injection, with every mission, and Jack couldn’t risk losing Gabriel. _

_ “You can. If I die you’ll be broken anyways, so what does it matter?” He understood; Jack could tell he understood by the way Gabriel’s voice wavered. He understood the pain they would go through if the other got hurt, and the hardship they would face against friends and enemies alike, but his lack of care astounded Jack. _

_ “I need time.” _

_ “We don’t have it.” _

 

“Do you think anyone is coming?” It was the first question in a while, and Jack looked over to meet Gabriel’s interested gaze.

“I don’t know. Two decorated commanders: missing and buried in rubble. So we’ve been assumed dead, or they're looking.” They were definitely looking, because if this was an outside attack and both of the government issued super soldiers died the UN would look for them, to make sure nobody else got their hands on the serum running through both commander’s veins.

“So we might die in here,” Gabriel muttered, hand moving down to press against his chest, and god, how bad Jack wanted to take that hand and squeeze it, and tell him that everything was going to be alright was beyond any form of want. 

“We might.” The concrete wasn’t going to hold forever, and that wasn’t debatable, but someone might come, they might be okay. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“For what?”

“That I don’t remember you. I’m sorry. You seem like you’d be a good friend.”

Jack flinched, eyes closing as he looked away, shaking his head. He didn’t want to die like this, with Gabriel barely stable and unable to remember who he was. He couldn’t say ‘I love you’ or apologize for the sleepless nights of constant fighting because Gabriel would have no idea what he was talking about.

“It’s okay.” It wasn’t. It wasn’t okay that they were going to die like this, trapped under mountains of concrete and remnants of halls he used to walk through. It was not okay. 

But it would have to be.


	3. Discovery

_ “You think too much when you fight, and not enough when you’re doing literally anything else.” Gabriel commented with a grunt, leaning over top of Jack with a more than satisfied smirk on his face. His legs were on either side of Jack’s chest, and his hands were pinning Jack’s into the ground.  _

_ “I do not.” The blonde retorted, sneering as he bucked upwards in an attempt to get Gabriel the hell off of him. He was just out of it, he wasn’t thinking too much.  _

_ “Whatever, Jackie. You asked for my help.” _

_ That much was true at least. He had asked for help after the last mission had gone bad, and Jack had ended up with a broken rib and four broken fingers. Gabriel had looked disappointed; he had given Jack that ‘I told you so’ look when he had come to visit him in the medical ward, and Jack hadn’t been able to meet his eyes afterward. So yeah, he asked for help, because he wasn’t keen on looking like a kicked puppy every time Gabriel walked into the room. _

_ “You’re just telling  me the same stuff over and over again.” Jack huffed, waiting for Gabriel to let down his guard a little, and relax his body before taking the chance to jut his hips to the side and flip them over. “And I get it.” He growled once he had Gabriel in his previous position. _

_ “No, you don’t.” Gabriel twisted his arms out of Jack’s grip, sitting up suddenly and hitting Jack’s head with his own, and smirking when Jack let out a startled noise, and then a groan. _

_ “Fuck!” _

_ “Pay attention.” _

 

“How is my mama?” Gabriel had shifted a little bit to the side, where there was a loose piece of concrete that he had decided to use as a headrest. 

“Good. You send her a letter at least every month, and you go back for Christmas at least every second year.”  _ With me. _ He wanted to add, but he didn’t, and instead, Jack just grimaced and looked up at the rock above them that was threatening to fall at any moment.

How long had they been down there? Jack wasn’t keeping track of the minutes or the hours, and he could barely find the energy to answer all of Gabriel’s questions. He did though, he still answered all of the questions, because Gabriel was trying to figure out who he was, and they were probably going to die down here; he didn’t want Gabriel to die without knowing who he was. 

Jack paused for a second, looking at Gabriel as he realized what his last question had been. “You remember her?” He asked, eyes narrowed as he watched Gabriel clutch onto the remains of Jack’s coat a little tighter.

“I guess so. I remember-” he paused, and Jack thought Gabriel was still kind of beautiful, laying in the dirt with a massive wound. His eyes were looking at up as if trying to remember something important. “Food.”

Jack’s heart clenched, and he had never been more jealous of food, or Mrs. Reyes in that moment. Gabriel should remember  _ him _ , and logically, Jack figured it made sense, if he remembered his family first, and food, because hell if the Reyes’ family wasn’t big on food. Even so, Jack could felt like even if Gabriel was smiling because he remembered something, he wouldn’t remember Jack, and they would die in this little hole covered by God only knows how much concrete and rubble. He would die as Jack Morrison, from Indiana, and Jack Morrison: Strike-Commander of Overwatch, but he wouldn’t die as Jack Morrison, husband of Gabriel Reyes. 

“Why were we fighting?”

The question of the ages. There were too many reasons for Jack to really say why they were fighting, and he found himself at a loss. His mouth tightened into a thin line, and he slumped his shoulders. “Because I got a promotion you should have gotten, and because you disagreed with some of my calls, and because we-”

“We were together.” He finished, frowning as he lifted his head as much as he was able. “We were together and we were having a fight about us.”

“How’d you-”

“We both have wedding bands, and you keep looking at me like you’re about to break into tears, which tells me that I’m not remembering something important, that has to do with you, and, besides, you’re absolutely my type.” He offered a smile that looked more pained than everything else, and Jack remembered he had a serious injury when he smiled like that.

“Oh,” Jack muttered intelligently, looking away with a small sigh. “Sorry. I didn’t know how you would take it if a stranger claimed to be your husband, so I didn’t say anything about it.”

“I get it, no worries.” He grunted, eyebrows furrowing in pain; Gabriel reached down to grip at the fabric (now soaked in blood) that was covering his wound and offered another smile. “Tell me, though, I want to know how we met.” 

 

_ “The person standing beside you is your roommate for this whole program, and I don’t want to hear any complaints, because you have one roommate now, instead of ten.” The commander snarled, staring at the batch of recruits with a scowl. His uniform was newly pressed and decorated in badges that Jack could only hope to have in the future, and his face was chubby though, which made him a whole lot less threatening, but that didn’t seem to matter, because a moment later, Jack and the other recruits chimed in a chorus of “Sir, yes sir!” and they were dismissed to find their rooms and settle into the new program. The top-notch, secret program to save the world: The Soldier Enhancement Program.  _

_ Jack took this opportunity to look to his left for the first time since entering the room. He had avoided making eye contact for the most part. Not wanting to make any sort of connection to anyone here until absolutely necessary. He was the same height as Jack, his jaw cut nicely, and his hair cut short, but had grown out enough that Jack could tell it would curl if he let it get long enough, and when the man turned to look at Jack, Morrison thought he might have the nicest eyes he had ever seen; they were a chocolate brown, and Jack found himself getting lost in them. _

_ “Uh- I’m Jack. Jack Morrison.” He held out his hand, cursing himself internally at the stuttered introduction. _

_ “Gabriel. Reyes.” His voice was smooth, like waves rolling off the beach, and Jack almost melted into the floor right then and there. He took Jack’s hand firmly, shaking once before releasing it. “I’m looking forward to working with you.” _

**Author's Note:**

> Yep, I'm making angst happen you're welcome.


End file.
